Clinical Focus Seminar – Post-Traumatic Stress: Advances in Treatment

Title: Post-Traumatic Stress: Advances in Treatment

Presenter: Professor Richard Bryant

About this seminar: Many challenges have arisen in recent years for the management of posttraumatic stress. This session will provide an overview of the major developments that have emerged from these challenges. It will initially address the issue of managing large-scale disasters, with particular emphasis on initiatives implemented after the Black Saturday fires. It will then address the issue of treating complex PTSD, which is characterized by deficits in emotion regulation. Exposure-based therapy has been adapted to permit greater compliance from these patients, including variations for refugees, torture survivors, and indigenous populations. New developments have also been achieved via neuroscience, indicating that neuroimaging and genetic differences between individuals can affect how they respond to treatment. Finally, these changes will also be discussed in the context of changing criteria for DSM-5.

About the presenter: Richard Bryant is a Scientia Professor at the University of New South Wales, ARC Laureate Fellow, and Director of the Traumatic Stress Clinic at Westmead Hospital. He has conducted extensive research in the assessment and treatment of traumatized people. He has published over 300 journal articles, and obtained over $15 million dollars in research funding. He currently serves on the committees revising traumatic stress diagnostic criteria for both DSM-5 and ICD-11.